Motor-vehicle.



i No. 834,008.

. PATILJN'IED OCT. 23, 1906. M: GRIER. MOTOR VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9,1905.

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No. 834,008. PATENTED' 001". 23, 1906.

' I M. (mm.

' MOTOR VEHICLE.- LPPL IOATION FILED SEPT. 9. 1905.

2 T E B H s s T E E H s 3.

llllll? To all whom-it may concern:

I UNITED STAT MONROE GRIER, or PAITONVILLE, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF v PATEN OFFICE...

TO ALBERTQ. KUN'ZE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURIL MOTOFi-VEHICLEF Be it known that I, M NROE GRIER, acitizen of the United States, residing in Pattonville, in the county of StrLouis 'and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Motor Vehicles, of which'the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference .being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. F

My invention relatesto a motor-vehicle,

and has for its object to provide a construction wherein the main frame and body is carried upon and propelled by fourtractionwheels pivotally connected thereto. These wheelscare all universally connected in such vehicle.

manneras to render them steering or guiding wheels and at the same'time are all driven from. a common source of-power, whereby I they all become traction-wheels.

Other features of the invention reside in the novel construction, arrangement, and

combination of the several parts, as will hereinafter' be described and afterward pointed outin the claims. I

Figure I is a top or plan view of my motor- Fig.' II is a side view, partially in vertical section, on'lineI'I II, Fig. I. Fig.

III is an end view. Fig. IV is a cross-section of the differential gearing employed. Fig. V

t is. a side view of the differential gearing with bly midway between the one 'of the bevel-gears omitted.

I suitably journaled in bearings 9, which journals are carried by certain mechanism about to be explained. I

. So far as the details of construction of the four driving and steerin wheels, their mount ings, &c:,' are concerne they are practicall of the same construction. Hence in the fo lowing description I will confine myself to but one of them. I will here state, however, that these wheels are practically what is known as f caster-wheels and which, due to their na-' Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 9, 1905. Serial No. 277,753.

ture, do. not require to be connected by axles f I Patented Oct. 23, 1906.

to unite both front and both rear As all of these wheels are driven from mechan ism. located above them,-: I have an entirely free space between them,'which is desirable in that obstructions upon the road will not produce any ill effect upon the machine. .In the drawings (see Fig. III) I have shown a tie bar or brace 23 between the wheel-brackets to render the structure more rigid. This,

however, may be dispensed with in some in-rv 11. indicates one .ofthe driving and steer-' Y stances.

inglwheels, which is movablymounted uppn a y orizontal axle 12, which has prefera formed integral therewith a vertical member 12 in the form of a rock-shaft and is journaledin upper and lower bearings 13 13, the

former of which is carried by a side sill 1',

whilethe latter is carried or supported by braces or straps 14 14, which depend from the main frame of the vehicle. (See Fig. II.) This rock-shaft 12' is designed to have the before-mentioned universal joint '8 for obvious reasons.

15 indicates a bracket mouiited upon the outer end of-the axle 12, which is attached to or, if desired, may be formed, integral with its axis in direct alinement with the center of a member 16, secured to the rock-shaft 12 at the point 17. Secured to this framework formed by' the bracket 15 and member 16 is the journal 9 of shaft 6., Also mounted upon said frame are rollers 18, which are designed track 19', secured toandextending outward y from the side sill 1 of the vehicle-frame. The oint from which theradius of this track is ormed being the center of the rock-shaft 12, it will be observed that the frame just de-' "scribed and its carried rollers in their cooper;

ationwith the circular track 19 constitute braces for the ound-wheels. The front ,.to' cooperate with a semicircular b-rac' and back ground-wheels of the vehicle are re-- spectively connected b transverse rods} 20 21, which for the sake o convemence are pivotall'y secured to the brackets 15 or 16. A rod 22 is emplo ed to connect one front wheel with the rear w eel at the opposite side of the vehicle, said rod being, as'is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, di onally disposed and having its ends pivota y secured at the junction .of one of each of the rods 2021. I

23 indicates a. steerin -stai f, which is. suit-' I ably journaled in a brac et-24, secured to the main frame of the vehicle and upon the lower end of which is secured an arm 25. Pivotally secured to the arm of the staff is a rod or link 26, the other end of which rod 26 is pivotally secured to the frame or bracket 15, as at 27.

It is apparent from the construction just described that when the steering-staff is rocked in either direction all of the ground- Wheels of the vehicle will be turned in the proper direction for making a curve.

28 indicates a motor of any suitable character, which is mounted upon the main frame of the vehicle and is designed to impart motion to a shaft 29, likewise mounted upon the main frame.

30 indicates a sprocket wheel mounted upon the shaft 29 and which, through the medium of a suitable chain 30, transmits motion to a differential gearing mechanism which cooperates with the shafts 4 4 for Well-understood reasons. The ground- Wheels of the vehicle are provided with s rocket-wheels 11 11 and 11 11 secured t ereto, and each of the shafts 6 6 and 7 7 are likewise provided with sprocket-wheels 6 6 and 7 7 said sprocket-wheels being respectively connected by sprocket-chains.

The shafts 4 and 5 and 4 and 5 are provided with sprocket-wheels 4 and 5 and 4 and 5", respectively, and are connected by sprocket-chains.

It will be observed that no differential gearing is employed to cooperate with the shafts 5 5, for the reason that they are directl connected with the shafts 4 4 and will hence take only the speed imparted to them by said shafts.

The differential caring I employ is best illustrated in Figs. V and V of the drawings, and while I do not claim its construction per se as my invention 1 will briefly describe the same in order to more clearly bring out other features of my invention.

Keyed or otherwise secured to the inner ends of the shafts 4 and. 4, respectively, are bevel-gears 31 and 32, and interposed therebetween and loosely mounted upon the extreme inner ends of said shafts 4 and 4 is a sprocket-wheel 33. This sprocket-wheel is provided with two pinions 34, mounted in suitable boxes 35, carried by said sprocketwheel formed thereon, which pinions are designed to be at all times in mesh with the bevelears 31. and 32, the sante being accomphshed by the formation of apertures in the web portion of the sprocket-wheel 33 and in which a portion of said pinions are located. The chain 30, before mentioned, connects the sprocket-wheel 30 and the sprocket- Wheel 33 of this differential gear. Hence it will be understood that when the vehicle is running on a strai ht coursei. 6., when the front and rear wheels are in alinement the pinions 34 do not rotate on their own axes, but merely revolve around the axes of shafts 4 4, and being in mesh with the gears 31 and 32 cause them and their respective shafts to rotate.

When the wheels of the vehicle are moved in such manner as to cause them to make a curve, the wheels representing the shorter radii of the circle about to be described are permitted to run slower than their companions,for the reason that the pinions 34 will not only revolve about the axes of shafts 4 4, but are permitted to turn upon their own axes in such manner as to compensate for the variation in speed that the two shafts 4 4 must make to effect the desired end.

I claim as my invention 1. In a motor-vehiclc, the combination of twopairs of traction-wheels, a frame carried thereby and supported thereabove, a powersupplying element mounted on said frame, a sectional shaft for each pair of said wheels supported by said frame, means connecting said shaft with said wheels for rotating the latter, a single differential-gearing mechanism carrried by the sectional shafts corresponding to one pair of said wheels, and

ower-transmitting means leading from the ast-named sectional shaft to the other sectional shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a plurality of tractionwvheels, vortically-disposed rock-shaf ts supported by said wheels, a frame carried by said wheels, a driven shaft mounted upon said f rame and provided with a universal oint in alinemeni with the axis of said vertically-disposcd rockshaft, and gearing connecting said driven shaft and said wheels, substantially as set forth.

3. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of a main frame, a plurality of ground-wheels for supporting said main frame, rockable frames journaled to said main frame and with which said ground-wheels are associated, and bracingtracks for said rockable frames carried by said main frame, substantially as set forth.

4. In a motor-vel1icle, the cmnbination a main frame, a plurality of grouml-whecls for supporting said main frame, rockablo frames journaled to said main frame and with which said ground-wheels are assocmted, and semicircular bracing-tracks for said. rockablo frames carried by said main frame, substantially as set forth.

5. In. a motor-vehicle, the combination of a main frame, a plurality of ground-wheels for supporting said main frame, rockablc frames journalcd to said main frame and with which said grouml-whecls are associated,

bracing-tracks for said rockable frames carried by said. main frame, and rollers carried by said rockable frame arranged to ride against said tracks, substantially as set forth.

ssaooa 6. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of a main frame, a plurality of ground-wheels for supporting said mainframe, rockable frames journaled to said main frame and with which said ground-Wheels are associated, semicircular bracing-tracks for said rockable frames carried by said main frame, and rollers carried by said rockable frame arranged to ride against said tracks, substantially as set forth.

7. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of V a main frame, two pairs of ground-wheels for supporting said main frame, "rockable frames journaled to said main frame and with which said ground-Wheels are associated,

said frames are rocked simultaneously, substantially as set forth. I

' MONROE GRIER.

In presence of- BLANCHE HOGAN, WM. H. SCOTT. 

